Race to the Fountain
by Oasisofdreams
Summary: "The 'Fountain of Youth' does exist." After being told this by a dying old man, Luffy and his two older brothers promise to see that the man's words are known to the world. However, by unseen forces Luffy is forced to journey to find this so called "Fountain of Youth" alone.
1. Prologue

**Prologue**

"Let me tell you a secret, the fountain of youth, it does exist!" the old man exclaimed to the three young boys before him. He laughed whole-heartedly at the expressions that they gave him of awe and horror before he began a coughing fit that ended with him coughing up blood. All three boys tried to get him to stop but he merely held up his blood covered hand to cease their scurrying. "My time is up, but I leave my quest to you now. Find the fountain and all of its glory, become the true king of this land!" the man shouted before he hissed out his last breath and died, with a wide grin on his face. The three young boys looked from the man to each other and made a silent promise, that they would find the so-called "fountain of youth" and fulfill the old man's dream.

Eleven years later:

"Well, this is it, I'm finally off. Ace, Sabo wish me luck. Shishishishi, 'fountain of youth' huh. It sure has been a while since I thought about it but I finally decided. I'm going to fulfill our promise, so you two just wait for me here," the young obsidian black-haired teen spoke out two the two piles of rocks before him. His deep eyes that seemed to mimic his hair color held a mischievous glint to it that always seemed to land him in trouble. And his red and blue turban billowed gently in the invisible breeze. He looked up to the night sky to cast one more gaze on the stars that he grew up with, knowing that once he left, they would be the same stars but foreign at the same time.

It was time, while the soldiers were asleep, the young teen grabbed his bag and silently left.


	2. Chapter 1

**There are two things I realized about the prologue. One, I forgot Luffy's hat, however that's even possible. Two, I forgot the disclaimer. Though all of you reading this should know very well that I do not own any of the characters, there is a high probability that they will end up out of character. Sorry, I've never been one for the whole abbreviated talk so I don't know more than half of them. This is my first time writing something like this so thank you to those who reviewed and please, if you see anything is wrong tell me. Thank you and enjoy.**

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**Chapter 1**

The white desert sands lay before the shady oasis in an ever menacing view. A red and blue turban lay nestled in a palm tree along with a straw hat that had just been added to the ensemble. Luffy, the black-haired and eyed teen, had arrived at this little oasis almost a week ago. He had passed out due to heat exhaustion and hunger. If it hadn't been for a random "caravan," Luffy still thinks they were bandits, he would have fodder for all the animals that roamed the desert at night.

Relaxing into the small pond that made the oasis, Luffy laid on his back, keeping his feet firmly on the ground since he couldn't swim, and looked up into the bright blue sky. It had been a month since he left the camp and started out towards the most lawless town he remembered his grandpa talking about. He shivered and stood up. Just thinking of his grandpa brought Luffy back once more to the night he left. He was almost positive that he had heard the old man yell even though he was miles away.

_The sun had just started to rise over the endless expanse of sand when Garp had woken up. As per his morning routine, the old man crawled out of his tent and marched to where the night sentries had kept watch._

_Though, normally with big groups one need not fear the animals that come out at night, Garp believed it was that kind of thinking that got people killed._

_Upon arriving where the sentries were stationed, Garp bunched his hand into a fist, gently huffed on it and delivered what he liked to call "a fist of love" to the two sleeping sentries. He then walked back into the camp to awaken the cook to begin preparing the morning feast as well as the few soldiers that were finishing up the grave-site for his two grand-kids._

_After Garp finished delivering his daily dose of fists of love, he walked back to his tent to awaken his youngest and now only living grandchild. Garp thought that he let the kid sulk long enough and decided that it was time to bring him back into the present._

_Upon arriving, Garp found himself looking into an empty tent. Luffy was gone, not laying in the spot that he had been in since the platoon had found the child and forced him out of the harsh elements. Garp let the flap close as he began looking around the camp for the boy. Now Garp, knowing just how much trouble his family was capable of getting into thought back to the night before, when Luffy had spoken for the first time since he was found. "What is the most lawless town you know?" That was his question._

_Garp's face slowly started to become red as he recalled telling Luffy the name of the place and adding multiple times that Luffy was to never go near that town. Garp then looked towards the town that he had directed Luffy's attention to and he marched to the end of the camp and stopped. "MONKEY D. LUFFY!" Garp shouted out in pure fury._

_Suffice it to say, the sentries would never again fall asleep on the job after experiencing a week's worth of Garp's fist of love in one day. Garp then barked orders to his men and packed half of the food supplies into a pack before heading out in the direction he figured the teen left in, all the while mumbling something about the young D. getting a year's worth of love as soon as he finds the teen._


	3. Chapter 2

**I'm not exactly sure where this is going. I had a slight at the beginning but decided that I didn't like it, so I'll just do as I always do and write so that it makes sense with no plan whatsoever. Then again, I enjoy writing without the least bit of an idea as to where it is headed, since I tend to turn away from works after I have an ending planned. Again, I'm sorry if the characters seem to not be themselves, and I don't own any of the characters.**

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Luffy, now dressed with his new straw hat secured to his head, filled up his water sack and started out away from the oasis. He recalled that the red-headed man who was the leader of the caravan had pointed in the direction of the sun's setting course as the way to the town he was headed to.

Looking up into the sky, Luffy began making his way to the lawless town he was supposed to go nowhere near. The man had said that it would take two nights to get to the town, so Luffy deduced that if he continued at the pace he had been going at he could be there by early afternoon tomorrow.

In fear of his grandpa catching up to him, Luffy had made his trek both day and night, only stopping to eat on the creatures that had attacked him at night. These creatures only come out at night so most of the traveling is done at night for better protection against them. None of the creatures are shy about attacking a sleeping caravan. When news of the creatures first began to spread, people began heading out into the desert to try to kill them off. Unluckily for them, they did it during the day and came up with nothing. Now there were plenty of people who took the name hunter and killed off as many of the creatures as they could in a single night.

Luffy thought back to the rumor he had heard in the camp while he pondered if he should go it alone or stay with his gramps and his men. A man known as Roronoa Zoro had made a name for himself lately as a hunter. He was last spotted in Loguetown, the lawless town that Luffy was supposed to have no interactions with. Why, he left it up to his gramps' random rules that made life less fun.

Luffy stopped in his tracks as a thought suddenly crossed his mind. He hadn't the slightest idea of what this Zoro person looked like. How was he going to find someone he had never seen before? He shrugged his shoulders and decided he could probably just ask around and people will happily tell him what he needs to know. With that, he continued on his way, only to trip over something that was laying complacently in the dirt, against a rock.

Luffy snapped up and looked up into the man's face of the lap he was laying on. He had a hard, defined face with a scar running down the length of the left side over his eye. The man also had three earrings on his left ear. What shocked Luffy was the green resting on the top of the man's. Luffy decided that it was interesting and brought his hand up to touch only to have it stopped in its tracks by the man's hand.

"You do know that traveling during the day could get you killed at night, right?" the man asked without opening his eye. His voice was deep and laid-back, as if he didn't really care for an answer.

Luffy stared at the man a second longer before he decided to answer. "Those earrings are more likely to get you killed." His tone was matter-of-fact and held no concern for the man in question.

At this the man opened his eye, the one without the scar, and gazed at the boy who now laid across his lap. A smirk tugged at his lips as he watched the boy's face light up and laughter escaped from the boy's lips. "My hair is naturally that color," the man said as he pulled the boy off of him so that he could sit up. "But seriously, you do know that traveling during the day is dangerous, right?"

Luffy scoffed, "Of course Iknow that. Gramps, Ace, and Sabo have already yelled at me plenty of times for it. Though, Gramps has no room to scold me for it when he actually lays out camp for the night." A pout appeared on the boys lips at the last part.

The man raised his eyebrow at the stupidity of the kid's grandpa but said nothing in regards to him," So, dare I ask why you decided to travel during the day?"

"I'm traveling during the night too-," as the words left his mouth, the man's eyes widened in shock. Traveling during the day was already dangerous enough as it is, but this kid had been traveling at night along with the day was just suicide. With the shock, the man almost missed the last part of what the kid was saying. "-cause he doesn't want me anywhere near Lougetown. But I should probably leave soon or Gramps is going to catch up."

As Luffy went to walk around the man he felt a small tug on his arm and looked back to see the man gripping it. "Why do you want to go to Lougetown?" the question left the man's lips with a bit of poison in his voice.

Luffy ignored the tone and smiled brightly, "I want to meet a man named Roronoa Zoro. I decided to go on an adventure, but what I'm after isn't something that I can get to alone. Originally I had planned to go with Ace and Sabo, but-" at the mention of the two names the boy's cheer took a down turn. The man was about to ask what had happened, though he had a rough guess, when the boy's smile was back in full force. "Ne ne, have you ever met Zoro, is he really as strong as the rumors say? I bet he's a nice guy. Oh, I can't wait to meet him." Luffy ranted as he began to walk away, forgetting that the man still held Luffy's arm.

The man said nothing as he watched the boy's arm stretch. His eye wide in shock and disbelief. He had heard the rumors of there being fruit that the eater a weird power, but he hadn't believed them until now. Finally getting over his initial shock, the man pulled on the arm, snapping the boy back and, with great hatred on the older's part, the boy was once again in the man's lap.

"Oh, did you need something else?" the boy questioned with curiosity plastered on his face.

The man once again forced the kid out of his lap, only he joined him in standing. "What's your name kid?" he asked while collecting three swords that Luffy hadn't noticed until just then.

With another of his wide grins Luffy answered with a simple, "Monkey D. Luffy."

The man once again smirked. He wasn't sure why he had decided to follow this boy, but he wasn't about to question his instinct either, "Well then Luffy, you have yourself a swordsman. I'm Roronoa Zoro."


	4. Chapter 3

**I feel like I gave Garp a different personality. If I didn't and that is just my lack of self-confidence then ignore the first sentence. So the plan is to go back and forth between Garp and Luffy for each chapter. I will try to stick to that but I make no promises that I don't know if I can keep. Any who, thankfully One Piece is owned by someone else because it would only be a blob of stick figures (not joking, I am only confident in my stick figure ability. Why are they even called stick figures if they have a round head?)**

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Garp arrived at the little oasis half point on his third night. For unknown reasons, it was a place that the creatures didn't dare to near, much like the large towns. He looked around and saw evidence that someone, he couldn't tell who, had stayed there. Sighing, he felt the beginning rays of the sun gently touch his back. There was no use continuing for the moment. Since his grandson had only left a night before him, he figured that he should catch up soon, and sleeping was important so that he didn't fall asleep in the middle of the night.

Garp spread out his rolled up equipment and decided to take advantage of the trees to string up a hammock. He then got out a fishing pole, kindling equipment, and a bag of rice crackers. He had noticed the other day that he hadn't grabbed as many food supplies when he left. Though he had noted that he at least grabbed more than Luffy who had grabbed none. He then wondered how Luffy had gotten so far without any food. Garp wasn't as familiar with the boy that he should have been, but Luffy's appetite was second to none. He wouldn't last a day without food.

That was when Garp grinned, "That cheeky brat." He then proceeded to laugh which, much to his surprise, startled a young woman with black hair pinned up on the back of the head, but still letting her bangs fall on either side of her face, and red glasses on top of her head. He took in the sword at her side and pink government ordered desert robes with the word "justice" written out on the back. It looked similar to Garp's white ones but showed that she was of lesser rank. Her dark-brown eyes held a slight glare at the man and Garp could only smile at it. The girl seemed to be in the hands of a good superior.

"Do you know if there are fish in this oasis?" Garp's question seemed to snap the young woman back to reality. As she squinted at him Garp sighed and said, "Your glasses are atop your head."

In a quick movement, she brought her glasses down to her eyes and gave out a shocked look before saluting the higher ranking officer before her. "I am so sorry for my rudeness sir!" she practically screamed out.

Garp just looked to her and began laughing again. She gave out a confused look as Garp moved to begin his fishing on a tree that was almost on top of the water at the deeper end of the oasis. "Might I ask what you're doing all the way out here?" Garp glanced her way and felt a pull of the line. He brought it up, took off the fish and gently placed the line back into the water.

"I was looking for the hunter Roronao Zoro, sir," she stated out still stiff in salute.

Garp let one of his eyebrows rise as he contemplated that. What did the government want with a hunter? Instead of voicing this he instead waved her over and threw her the fish in his hands when she was a decent distance near him. "That one's yours," was all that he said before starring off into the distance where Loguetown lay only two days away.

"Thank you sir," she said more in shock than in gratitude but Garp put it out of his mind. He continued to wonder if his last living grandson was still alive when the tug of a fish brought his attention back to dinner. He pulled the fish up and left the tree going over to where the young government official was waiting next to a small fire.

"You're a captain, correct?" Garp questioned a little melodramatically. He then proceeded to place his fish into the fire while waiting for the lady to respond.

"Oh yes," she was back on her feet, saluting, "I am Captain Tashigi currently stationed under Vice Admiral Smoker at Loguetown. I am currently hunting down the hunter Roronao Zoro under the pretence that he has been involved in the upsetting of one of our bases at Shells Town," so that's why he's being looked for, "he also has a reputation saying that he will watch someone get eaten by a creature instead of aiding-"

"Gwahahaha, what good do reputations do, most of it is normally just stories. Made up by others to make something bigger than what it really is," Garp picked up his fish and slowly began eating.

Taking this as a sign, Tashigi sat again, slightly blushing, and picked up her fish. "I take it you don't believe in reputations, sir?" she questioned as she slowly began to eat.

"I once heard that your Vice Admiral Smoker was a monster that picks on little kids and bullies the towns people whenever he pleases," Garp spoke, not having to look to see that fury was beginning to enter her eyes. Before she could say anything, Garp grinned and said a simple, "see."

After a moment, Tashigi's anger smoothed out and she looked down at the fish resting in her hands. "Yes," was all she said and Garp was laughing once again.

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**Yeah I also noticed that a turban is a head thing so I'll go and fix that in a bit. I'm not too sure as to why I decided to post two chapters today so I'll just chuck it up to the fact that I didn't fail my Bio test, though I found that out yesterday. Overall, I guess I'm just in a rather good mood and decided to write a bit. To those of you who enjoy this, don't expect this often. I write on impulse, it is a curse that I find gets better when my mood is more in the darker areas. Today is just special, as to why, I don't know. Okay, I feel that I ranted long enough, so to those who read it, I thank you kindly. :) To those who read it and thought it is was in any sense good, thank you for I no self-confidence in myself. Just posting all of this is way out of my comfort zone.**


	5. Chapter 4

**I don't think I did Zoro right, so sorry if he seems really out of character, but I needed him to be like that. I also don't think that I want him to be a complete idiot when it comes to directions so as long as he's been there before, he can find the place. I think that sounds fair, its sort of the same as what he always is, just not as bad. If he was like his normal directionally challenged self then they wouldn't find any of the others, so there. Anyway, I'm messing up the characters but that doesn't mean I own them.**

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Loguetown was a lot busier than Luffy had thought the lawless town would have been. In his honest opinion, he wouldn't even had called it lawless just by looking at it. "Most of the things that go down here go down in the shadows, the surface is actually clean," Zoro spoke up as if reading Luffy's mind.

"Oh, then do you think we'll be able to find more people here?" Luffy brought his obsidian colored eyes up into the green of the man standing beside him. Zoro grunted in answer, not actually sure if they would actually find someone willing to follow someone like Luffy. The teen looked like a kid, he even acted like a kid. If you asked any random stranger to guess the age of the boy with the straw hat on, it would probably be nowhere near his actual age. This didn't actually bother Zoro but it might bother other people so he was trying to keep the younger male from getting his hopes too high up there.

Unknown to Zoro, Luffy already expected to recruit at least ten men. To him, he was already setting his standards kind of low, but too large a group would get them nothing but attention from unwanted people. Luffy remembered watching the old man get shot at an odd angle to prolong an inevitable death, all because he known of the "fountain of youth's" existence. The man had died with a smile on his face though since he passed on his knowledge to someone else, even if it was just three snot-nosed brats.

Smiling once again, Luffy began walking straight in the hopes of finding the middle of town. Zoro grabbed the back of Luffy's desert robes when he saw the movement out of the corner of his eye. "Where do you think you're going?"

Luffy looked up into the taller man's face, "To the center of town. I figured that that's where all the really strong people will be at."

Zoro's eye twitched, "Only the weak ones would be in the center of town, you want at the edges where it's more likely an attack will come."

"Oh, then why did we even enter the city?" Luffy questioned confused. If the strong people were the ones that stayed at the outer edges of the city, then shouldn't one of the tents that were outside of the city have the strongest.

Zoro just looked at Luffy almost as confused as the younger was. "We're not in the city."

"Yes we are, the limit is just back there," Luffy responded pointing over to the sign that marked the start of the city.

Zoro's eye widened in slight horror of his own lack of attention. You couldn't enter a city without a pass unless it was the place of the person's birth, Zoro had never owned a pass in his life and he was not, nor would he ever want to be, born in Loguetown. "Luffy we need to go, now."

Luffy looked up at the man and pouted, "Why, we just got here?"

"Passes please! Bring out your passes! All that have just entered are required to have a pass!" and there it was. The pass search. Zoro grabbed Luffy and started to pull him back toward the sign they had just passed when a person in a white desert robe stepped in front of them, blocking their escape. "Pass please," the man said as sweetly as he could muster, which sounded more like a person waiting for the chance to beat someone.

"What's a pass?" the words were out of the younger male's mouth before Zoro could even register that they were about to be arrested.

The government official's face lit up, pleased that he would indeed get to beat someone, but just as soon as it rose, it fell as soon as he saw Luffy's face.

"What are your names?" the man said dejected.

Luffy once again perked up and immediately replied, "I'm Monkey D. Luffy and this is Roronoa Zoro. We're looking for traveling companions."

Zoro wanted to strangle the kid but before he could even think to the official nodded and said, "Have a nice day and please enjoy your stay." With that the official was gone to go and find his next victim.

Zoro turned his gaze onto Luffy and saw that he was waving farewell to the official. "You want to tell me what that was about?"

Luffy brought his attention back to Zoro and decided to answer his question with a question of his own since it hadn't been answered before, "What's a pass?"

Zoro shook his head and merely said later. He then started walking off towards his least favorite restaurant, knowing someone who might be willing to travel with them. Though he hated the guy's guts, Zoro knew that he would be a great asset, even if he would rather die than admit it.

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**Now, my plan would normally have it with Garp being the center of the next chapter, but Luffy has to have left Loguetown before he gets there and in order for that to happen, he needs more of his crew. I honestly haven't gotten past him getting Sanji to join so if you want to see a character then just say. I don't want all of them at once, but I'm also not sure how many I actually want so if you do want to see somebody now, tell me or I'm going with East Blue recruits here and Grand Line recruits elsewhere.**


	6. Chapter 5

**I do not own One Piece, and never will**

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The restaurant's name was Baratie, and all of the waiters looked like they didn't mind killing anyone who tried to get out of paying. The restaurant itself had this air to it that radiated a sort of killing intent. Not exactly the kind of place you would go for a nice family dinner, which was probably what most of the people would have thought if they hadn't known the green-haired swordsman.

Luffy liked the place, there was a bunch of different things in the restaurant that were just fascinating to his child-like mind. Much to Zoro's annoyance, the boy seemed to be bouncing every which way, trying to find something that wasn't there and completely blowing off the question Zoro had just asked.

Sighing in defeat in trying to get the hyperactive boy to settle down, he grabbed the kid by the collar of his desert robes and half dragged him to the bar counter, far out of the way of the other guests.

"Zoro, what is this place for and why does it smell of meat?" Luffy asked after being set down on one of the bar stools.

"What do you mean 'What is this place?'" Zoro gruffed out. "It's a restaurant so of course it smells like meat. They serve food here."

"Not to those who can't pay, Marimo," an angry voice sounded from behind the pair.

Luffy began turning while Zoro responded, "And who says I don't have money?"

Looking at the angry man, Luffy saw a blond man with a grayish-blue eye, his hair covered the left one so Luffy only knew the right eye color. He had a dark goatee and the beginnings of a mustache. Luffy also noted that there was a swirl to his eyebrow but thought it might be best not to point it out to the angry man. "Why is your eyebrow swirly?" thought being the key word here, Luffy doesn't do much in the thinking department.

The blond man looked to the boy that had just spoken, only realising now that he was there. Deciding to ignore the question, the man brought his attention back to Zoro. "So you have money?"

Zoro smirked akwardly, "Maybe. Luffy do you have money?" Zoro turned his head to the boy beside him. It wasn't that Zoro didn't have money, it was just that he didn't like spending it on food when he didn't have to. Luffy looked over to Zoro with a confused epression on his face. "You have no clue what money is, do you?" Zoro sighed out before Luffy could even open his mouth.

At that statement, the blond once again looked over to the young boy that was with Zoro, a huge grin now plastered to his face. "Nope, never heard of it before," was the boy's chipper reply.

"Marimo, who is this, why is he with you, what is wrong with him?" the blond questioned Zoro.

In which Zoro replied, "I'm starting to wonder about the last two myself. Any way, this is-"

"I'm Monkey D. Luffy. Is money important or something? Is it like that pass you were talking about earlier, Zoro?" Luffy spoke, decideing that his questions were important again.

At the pass part, many of the patrons and staff looked at the boy quizicly. The blond man looking at Luffy as if he had grown another head or something. Zoro merely sighed and again responded "Later Luffy."

The blond lit a cigerate and brought it to his mouth. He lit it and took in a deep drag. Blowing the smoke into the air above the kid's head he once again looked at the boy. Shaking his head he turned to walk away. "Hey Dartboard Brow," Zoro spoke up before the blond could leave, "get me a bottle of sake and some juice for the kid."

"You better have the money to pay for it, Mossball," and with that the man left.

Luffy once again turned his attention to the green-haired man that had been avoiding answering his questions. He opened his mouth to speak but with one glare from Zoro, it was immedietly closed.

The blond man came back after a few minutes of akward silence. He placed the juice in front of Luffy and the sake in front of Zoro. He was now keenly studying the boy, who looked up and smiled. "Ne, what's your name?" Luffy chimed out after a small drink from his glass.

The blond let out a puff of smoke before answering, "Sanji, now drink your juice."

"What is it, cause it almost tastes like a fruit I used to eat when I was sick?" Luffy again asked and said something that seemed to catch the whole restaurant by surprise.

At that statement, both Sanji and Zoro were too at a loss for words to saying anything coharent. Sanji recovered first much to Zoro's annoyance, "It was designed to have a taste similar to a fruit that was known as an orange, but there's no way you could have eaten one since there haven't been any fruit for years now," Sanji said in a voice that sounded like he was talking to a child, which he thought he was.

Luffy didn't mind the tone that much since he didn't know that there were different tones used between adult and child, he just thought that the tone changed depending on the person who was being talked to. He had experienced similar occasions with Ace and Sabo, they talked differently to each other than they talked to him. Though Luffy had never minded it unless they were angry, then he was scared of them.

Zoro, on the other hand, was fed up with Luffy being talked down to. "He's nineteen, not some three-year-old," Zoro spoke from behind the mouth of the bottle he was drinking from.

Sanji looked from Zoro to Luffy, back again, and back again. "Your nineteen?" he barely breathed out.

Luffy looked up, confused once again, "Yeah, but why does age matter?"

"Oi, Marimo!" Sanji got out with a harsh glare to Zoro.

"Don't know either," Zoro responded without the question being asked. That was when a thought occurred to him, "Hey, Luffy?" Luffy looked up at Zoro to show that he was listening in annoyance that every single one of his questions had been blown off. "Where exactly are you going?"

"I don't know," was all Luffy could say, which was true. He had never gotten the location from the dying man, only what he needed to find.

"How do you not know?" Zoro slightly snapped back, the boy was getting on his nerves.

"I don't know where it is, I was never told," Luffy pouted, it wasn't his fault the man died before telling him anything more.

Zoro didn't like that answer. He was starting to doubt his decision to join the male sitting next to him. He gulped down the lump that was forming in his throat, not wanting to ask his next question, but not willing to continue on without knowing, "What exactly is it?"

Luffy's wide smile returned in full force, " The 'Fountain of Youth.'" It had barley been whispered. Only Sanji and Zoro had heard it, which was a good thing since the blasted thing had already killed so many.

Zoro was really regretting his decision to join without getting the full story, "Luffy, we need to talk."

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**Should I change the rating? The next chapter has a slight suggestive theme and I'm not sure how it will play out right now so I don't know if it will go to anything more than just a suggestion. Also, I am having a really hard time keeping the language clean, especially now that there is both Zoro and Sanji. **

**Stupid rivals!**

**Any way, if you think I should then please tell, I know it won't go above teen rating, but...**


	7. Chapter 6

**I realized the last chapter that Zoro has no idea what Luffy is looking for, but you probably noticed that. This chapter is kind of a result to that and something that struck me bluntly.**

**Ezaria: Thank you for your bluntness. I mean it, it is not sarcasm. What you said was the truth and this is the product of me trying to make it more interesting. Wasn't sure at all what to do so I just let the words take over. This is all that came to mind and I have no idea where it's heading next, but I like it like that cause its more fun to write. :D**

**Still don't own One Piece, still can't draw, and still can't understand the ratings.**

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"Zoro, why?" Luffy called out to the man that was now walking quickly away from him. Luffy didn't get it, one minute he was happy and depressed since he had found a strong ally but wouldn't have any of his questions answered. Now he had to run after said ally.

Zoro was just annoyed with the brat following him. He had already explained everything to the kid, well sort of…

_"I can't go with you," Zoro had said with no hesitation in his voice, much like when he had first offered his assistance._

_Luffy looked dumbfounded for a moment; shock, confusion, hurt, and loss present on his child-like face. "Why?" he breathed out._

_Zoro flinched inwardly at the sound of the brat's voice. It wasn't even a whisper but it held the weight of his decision as if he had betrayed a promise made to his brother. "Luffy, what your after is far beyond my capabilities. It's far beyond any living human's capabilities. I just can't help you."_

That was enough of an explanation, wasn't it? Zoro didn't have a death wish. He knew that the subject was one that could get you killed and he wasn't ready for that.

He walked a bit further before he realized that the brat was no longer crying behind him. What should have been a good thing only made Zoro feel more guilty than he already was. "Great, now I have to babysit a brat on a fool's errand just because my conscience won't let me leave well enough alone. Stupid, child, brat, fool…Where did he even go?"

* * *

Luffy had been following Zoro for a little ways after leaving the place that smelled of meat. He was about to complain again when out of nowhere, a hand shot out and placed itself firmly on his mouth and his body was pulled into another's.

He tried to scream out when the hand left his mouth but was met with a gag, followed by a sack being placed over his head. His hands and feet were then bound and he was dropped onto the floor to sit.

"Are you sure this is a good idea?" asked a male voice that seemed really unsure of itself. Luffy wanted to tell him that whatever the idea was, if it involved him being in the mess he was currently in, then it was definitely not a good idea.

"What else are we supposed to do? If we don't reach our quota then it's our heads on the line," replied a female voice. Luffy found that this voice was soothing, rather odd given his situation.

"Right, but he's just a kid, probably no more than ten," Luffy felt a bit better since there was another person in his situation, but then he got mad at himself since this wasn't a good situation to be in.

"So? Look Usopp, we don't have time to find anyone else. Now stop complaining and help me," the female shot back. A second later and Luffy found himself being carried over another person's shoulder. With nothing better to do he realized that the person carrying him was the man and that he was buff. Or was it the woman? Is there even a difference between a man and a woman? Luffy just realized that he had never actually met a woman. So for him, all these different thoughts about gender and differences between the two started circulating in his head, making him dizzy.

"Nami?" the man named Usopp asked, telling Luffy who he was being carried by.

"What?" the one Luffy thought was a woman but was no longer sure snapped back.

"Well, you heard him too, right? You know, about Zoro?"

"It didn't look like they were close so don't worry about it. Besides, we'll be at the base shortly, and he won't be able to do anything once we get there-" Luffy started to drown the two out. It wasn't interesting enough for him to pay attention to anymore so he let sleep consume him.

* * *

Zoro backtracked all the way back to Baratie, hoping to see the bumbling, idiotic brat along the way. He had no such luck. Zoro was tempted to leave it at that and just say that fate didn't want him to find the kid when, once again, his conscience won him over.

Entering into the restaurant, he saw Sanji hitting on someone else's date. Then he watched as the man threatened Sanji. Then as the inevitable kick to the face put the man in his place. After dealing with the "mess," Sanji went back to flirting with the now dateless girl.

Zoro sighed and walked back over to the bar. It wasn't wise to get in-between Sanji and any female. At least it seemed like any female. Zoro waited patiently for the stupid cook to finish with his flirting. It took about an hour and half of Zoro's money spent on sake.

"What, did you forget something?" Sanji strolled over when he noticed that Zoro was about to destroy the place.

Through gritted teeth, Zoro barely got out, "Did Luffy come back here?" He wanted nothing more than to beat anyone who dared to look at him wrong to a bloody pulp.

Sanji quirked up his eyebrow, "The kid you were with?" Maybe he hadn't heard right, was Zoro looking for someone he didn't want to be with?

Sighing out Zoro scratched his head, "Yeah, he was yelling for me one minute and the next thing I knew, he was gone."

Sanji felt sorry for the poor boy as he said his next bit, "The underground has gotten a bit out of hand recently. A lot more people have been going missing. The kid was probably taken by either a trader or a scavenger. Give up on seeing him again."

Zoro tensed at the news. He knew next to nothing about the kid, but it didn't sit right with him to just leave it at never seeing him again. Zoro turned to Sanji, a different light in his eye that neither had known existed, "Help me."

"No, you stupid Marimo," Sanji shot back. "Weren't you listening he was-" Sanji cut himself off. Did the Marimo just ask for help? Didn't he have too much pride for that? The change in his long time rival made him even more curious about the boy. "I'm not joining on his stupid quest."

Zoro grunted in agreement, "Neither am I, but I feel like I should at least see him home."

Sighing Sanji started to head back towards the kitchen, "Wait there, I got to go tell that stupid old man that I'm going somewhere."

* * *

"What is this?" the tall and bulky and big and scary looking man with a golden hook for his left hand and a long scar above his nose that crossed his entire face.

Gulping down a scream of terror, and tan man with curly black hair and a long nose stuttered a response that sounded like, "We-well, w-w-w-we sa-saw this b-b-b-bo-b-b-boy an-and since we st-still nee-needed one mo-mor-more we gr-grabbed him for you." He rushed the last part just wanting to finish talking.

"It's not so bad is it?" a girl with long, wavy orange-hair spoke up. "He has a cute face and some people get off on scars now-a-days. He should fetch a good price."

The big man sighed, "That's not what I meant."

Confused the girl questioned her boss, "Then what did you mean?"

Standing up, the scary man slowly walked over to the boy who, after a long head-ache inducing debate, was sleeping as if there was nothing wrong. "We don't use drugs on our products to keep them fresh."

A tick appeared on the girl's face, "And we told you that we didn't use any form of drug on him. He was wide awake when we first set out with him."

The man's hand, not hook, shot out and cupped the girl's chin, forcing her to look up at him, "Nami, why is this boy here?"

"To be put up for auction?" the girl questioned, now confused. The answer was obvious, what else would he be used for.

The man turned his gaze to the other male in the room, "And you Usopp, why is this boy here?"

"L-like N-N-Na-Nami s-sa-said, a-au-auc-auction," the young male stuttered worse than the first time he had talked to the man.

"I don't like idea," the man smiled demonically. "You see, I've been thinking about changing out my pet, and you come along with this darling little kitten." The man let go of Nami's face and walked up to the sleeping boy. He bent down and lifted his face slightly, enjoying the feel of the soft skin on his rough hands. "Though I know cats are not normally chained, I really don't want this one to go. Take that dog out of the kennel, clean it, and place this darling little kitten inside."

"Yes Crocodile," the two said as one, with Usopp slightly stuttering.

* * *

"Vice Admiral Smoker, Tashigi reporting back in!" Tashigi called out, saluting a white-haired man with light gray eyes and a scar going diagonally over his left eye.

The man looked up from the table with a bunch of paper on it. "And how did your hunt for Roronoa go?"

"Sadly I was unable to find him," Tashigi deflated.

"Gwahahahaha, so this is the legendary White Chase Smoker? It's a pleasure to meet the man behind the rumors, though I must ask, what are you doing in Loguetown?" the old man who accompanied Tashigi questioned. He was relatively tall for an old man, well muscled too. His gray hair and beard gave Smoker the feeling of something that the man had been through more than he was willing to tell and his light blue eyes held a mystery alongside pure jolliness. If it wasn't for the scar on his left eye, Smoker would have dressed the old man in red and called him Santa, but Smoker knew all too well who the man before him was.

"I could ask you the same thing, Garp the Fist."


	8. Chapter 7

Luffy woke up not sure where he was. The ground was soft and fluffy, it felt warm in a cooling way, and there was this cold thing around his ankle. Sitting up, he looked around. The room was relatively small compared to the expensive furnishings that implied wealth. Luffy for once was grateful for his one visit to Marine Ford that his gramps had forced him and his brothers to take, he could name almost all of the furnishings.

It was mainly pillows, thought there was this weird thing in the corner, but Luffy felt that it wasn't important. Shifting himself slightly, Luffy heard a rattle and felt the cold around his ankle press in. "What's this?" he asked himself while looking at the silver chain that held his ankle prisoner. "Where am I anyway?"

In an attempt to stand up, Luffy discovered that his legs were more of jelly than they normally were. He couldn't stand.

He started looking for something that could help up when he heard a click and a door start to open. In came a tall man with black hair slicked back, a golden hook replacing one of his hands, a scar going across his face just above his nose. He smirked darkly at Luffy, sending shivers through said male's spine.

"So the kitten awakens?" the man said in a deep voice that reminded Luffy of people who held authority, but this man didn't look like someone from the government.

"Who are you?" Luffy asked innocently.

Something flashed in the man's eyes, but Luffy didn't have time to identify it before it was gone, "I'm Crocodile, your new master." After he said master, the man stepped closer to Luffy who in turned scooted back on the floor.

"I don't have a master," Luffy replied, liking this person less and less.

Again the man smirked in a way that had Luffy wanting to yell for his family, "But can't have such a young kitten wondering around on the streets."

Luffy pouted at this, he had called him kitten again, "I don't know what a 'kit-in' is but I'm not one."

The man seemed to find the answer amusing for he sat down a little ways away from Luffy who, still not liking how close the man was scooted back until his back hit the wall. "Why not tell about the things you do know and the things you want to know?" the man asked.

"I'm not to supposed to talk to random people who ask me questions," Luffy replied when he recalled that lesson being beaten into him on more than one occasion.

Crocodile did not like this answer and his grin, if you could call it that, was replaced with a deep frown. He stood up and slowly walked over to the young male cowering up against the wall. It was time for the little kitten to know what his role was to be.

* * *

It was a complete accident to run into the annoying female while he was looking for the brat, but as Zoro saw, fate hated him today. So there he was, his Wado Ichimonji, a beautiful katana adorned in white, pointed at the annoying woman while he was having a yelling contest with Sanji about how to treat a lady.

Let's just say that their search for Luffy was getting nowhere, Zoro was about to live up to his name as a demon, and Sanji was trying to both flirt with the lady in question while trying to continue his verbal fight with Zoro. The only thing that looked like it could make them stop was if a creature just popped up in the middle of the three of them. That wasn't going to happen so the next best thing did.

A large bulking government soldier broke out laughing.

The white-haired man with a graying beard had just started laughing like there was no tomorrow. Zoro looked at the man confused, sword dropping and retort to Sanji dying in his mouth. Sanji was finally not flirting with the woman that had threatened Zoro and forgot all about his argument with said green-haired man. The woman herself looked at the man and questioned the humor in this predicament, rather rudely if one had paid close enough attention.

"How is it not funny, you all are just shouting at each other when only fists can solve this conflict," was the old man's answer.

Zoro straightened his back and Sanji lit a cigarette. Both could tell that this man was not one to mess with. Their worries being confirmed when the old man was over to both of them yelling, "You need a fist of love," and proceeding to hit both of them in the head, ending the fight before it even began.

Another white-haired man approached and Zoro silently cursed his luck. "What are you doing Garp?" the new participant asked the old man that was having too much fun laughing to answer him. "What happened to finding your grandson?"

At this the old man stopped laughing and grew serious. He seemed to think for a second before walking back up to the two men he had just hit. "Let's make a deal-" he started.

"I don't think a marine should make a deal with a criminal," the younger white-haired man said.

"And what is their crimes?" Garp questioned raising an eyebrow.

"Can't say anything about the blond over there, but Zoro is the main suspect for what happened at Shells Town," was the other man's answer.

"I told you this," the woman muttered under her breath, obviously annoyed with the old man.

"Right, well we don't know if he did it so it can't be making a deal with a criminal if we don't know if he's a criminal," was Garp's response. He had effectively drawn all eyes to him with his care-free way of finding a loop-hole in the government's system, almost as if he had done many times before. "So back to that deal. If you two help me find my bumbling grandson, I'll you off the hook, I'll place the blame of Shells Town's fall on the captain stationed there."

All eyes were officially opened, _What is this man's rank_ was all that Zoro could think and Sanji's thought process wasn't much better.

Ignoring the looks of warning, concern, and down-right disbelief on everyone's faces, Garp pulled out a piece of paper and showed to the two men. Upon seeing the picture, both men's faces became emotionless. Sanji had grown even more curious about the brat and Zoro finally understood why he didn't need a pass. There on the paper was none other than one grinning Monkey D. Luffy.

* * *

Usopp paled when he caught a glimpse of the picture. He looked over to Nami only to see that she wasn't much better off than him. Who had they just taken? Marines and Zoro were now looking for him, granted they hadn't heard all of the conversation since they had only come in at the latter part of the deal, but now kid seemed like more trouble than he was supposed to be worth.

Both of them already felt bad for the poor boy for grabbing Crocodile's attention, granted he wanted him as a pet but even that could be life threatening. Nami shot her hand out and grabbed a hold of Usopp's robes, pulling him back into the alley that they had just exited.

"We need to tell Crocodile," she whispered.

Usopp paled even more, "He'll kill us."

"We'll be more than dead if he finds out we didn't tell him," Nami snapped back.

"Tell who what?" a deep voice sounded behind them. Nami's eyes grew in size and Usopp stiffened.

"Weren't you listening Marimo," another deep voice, though not as deep as the first, sounded on their other side, "They were talking about Crocodile."

Both Usopp and Nami turned to one of the voices. Usopp wished he could trade with Nami when he saw that it was indeed Roronoa Zoro that had spoken first. Nami on the other hand didn't know the man standing before her but just his aura was enough to know that he was in just about the same league as Zoro.

"I heard you stupid Cook, what I'm asking is who he is," Zoro snapped back.

"How do you not know the man that is said to control the underground in this half of the desert?" the blond raised his swirly eyebrow.

"Why should I pay attention to those kinds of things?" Zoro scoffed. Both Usopp and Nami had almost fallen to the ground. "Besides, I didn't hear you answer the other half of my question."

"We can't tell you," Nami snapped back up to her full height, felling defiant.

"Besides, you're not really going to give the kid to that crazy marine anyway," the blond drawled.

"What?" Usopp gasped out. Nami also looked confused at this, didn't they just make a deal with the marines to help look for the boy.

"Shut it Curly-Cue," Zoro snapped back.

"B-but didn't you just agree to help them look for him?" Usopp said, too shocked to stutter in fear.

Zoro's face turned impassive, "Idiot would end up killed if I left him with them."

"Yeah, but you're a demon so the life of one brat shouldn't matter to you," Usopp prompted.

"Coward has a point," blond man said while leaning against the wall of the alley.

Nami, however asked the million beri question that seemed to be on all of their minds, "Does anyone else feel like we all fell into some kind of trap that kid set up?"

The three males looked at her with the dim light of understanding in their eyes. Either the kid was really smart and knew how to make people work in the ways he wanted, or he was one of those people that drew others to him like a magnet. It didn't matter which at that point in time since white smoke appeared out of nowhere.

* * *

**Hmm, yeah that probably sounded better in my head. Oh well, this is the result of whatever twisted scheme my mind is trying to form. I probably should change the ending since it cuts off too much but I'm too lazy to do it so it stays. Now if I could just get my thought process working I'll be happy. Fat chance of that happening.**


	9. Chapter 8

**Yeah, so these first two sentences have nothing to do with the story. WHY ARE PEOPLE SO HARD TO DESCRIBE, WHY CAN'T PEOPLE JUST LOOK INTO MY HEAD AND SEE WHAT I SEE? Okay, I feel better now and sorry for my melt down. I'm not happy with this chapter and hope to do more explaining about certain parts in later chapters. Hope to being the key word, I've never written a fight scene before and whenever I try, the whole brain to hand thing just shuts down. So that's my explanation on why certain parts are lacking. Again, I will work on incorporating the missing parts into later chapters so enjoy what's there for now.**

* * *

"Smoker," Zoro seethed out. He had been careless and let the Marine Vice Admiral sneak up on him. Sure he had heard the rumors about Smoker's power, but those types of rumors were a dime a dozen. It was then that he recalled a certain boy whose arm stretched.

"So then, those stupid rumors are true?" Sanji asked, trying to remain calm but panic could be seen in his uncovered eye.

"Ack, you ate one of those fruit thingies!" the male that knew where Luffy was cried out.

The girl hit him in the head, "Usopp!"

"What," he started before his eyes widened and he covered his mouth, "I said nothing."

"Well, well, what do we have here?" the cold voice of the Marine sounded through the smoke. Zoro didn't know much about these "fruit thingies" as Usopp, he guessed that was the name of the one who probably took Luffy, had put it. "Two liars and two kidnappers, I can still let you all off the hook if you just tell me what I need to know, now." He materialized then and prepared his Jitte.

Zoro instinctively went to his swords, not drawing them, and waited for the next move. He knew, though he hates to admit it, that he would be no good in a fight against this person. So far the rumors about him were true, and that probably meant the rumor that no physical attack could touch him was also true. To sum it up, they were screwed.

"Nami," Usopp whispered urgently.

"How do we know that you aren't lying?" the orange haired woman questioned.

Smoker sneered at this, "Unlike trash like you, I am a man of my word."

It took exactly three seconds for both Zoro and Sanji to attack the Marine, a millisecond to convince Sanji to go with Nami and Usopp, five seconds to convince Nami and Usopp to take Sanji to Luffy, and about an hour and sixteen different hidden alley ways to lose Smoker and somehow end up with Zoro tagging along.

Panting hard, the four of them took a break in their running. Nami falling to the ground out of exhaustion, Sanji oddly attempting to woo her in his normal routine with a hint of pant from the long run in it, Zoro leaning against the wall with his sword still in his hand, and Usopp complaining that they should continue moving, seemingly the least tired out of the four.

"So then, Usopp is it?" Zoro questioned, not taking his good eye off of the street.

"H-how do you know my name?" said man paled to the color of the stupid sun when it was sitting high in the sky.

"Nami over there said it after you said something about these 'fruit thingies,'" Zoro answered nodding his head slightly in her direction.

"Wait, doesn't that put us at a disadvantage?" she asked.

Zoro had finally dubbed them safe and turned to look at her, raising an eyebrow in question. "I mean, you both of our names but we only know yours," she responded as if Zoro was stupid.

"If you want the idiot cook's name then ask him for it, I'm not going to give out-" Zoro started.

"Sanji my beautiful swan, but you may this humble prince anything you deem fit," Sanji quickly cut him off.

Usopp sweat dropped, Nami found a someone she can easily manipulate, and Zoro muttered, "Dumbest thing he's done today," before continuing louder, "So where is Luffy?"

Usopp looked at Zoro confused, "Luffy?"

"Sorry, but we don't know any Luffy," Nami finished allowing Sanji to help her stand.

"Are you sure?" Sanji questioned Usopp, not wanting to doubt the lady.

"I'm pretty sure I would remember if I met someone with the name of Luffy," Usopp shot back.

Sanji got out a new cigarette and lit it, "That is true, it's not exactly your common name-"

"Small brat, black hair and equally black eyes, scar under his left eye, a big X shaper scar on his chest, and a straw hat," Zoro interrupted Sanji who in turn gave him a death glare.

"Oh, Crocodile's new pet," both Usopp and Nami said in unison.

"Wait, then you do know him?" Sanji questioned.

"We didn't know his name was Luffy, he was asleep by the time we got him to Crocodile," Nami explained.

"Besides that," Usopp continued, "you should just give up on taking him back. Once Crocodile sets his sights on something, he doesn't let it go."

Zoro twitched, still trying to get over the pet part of their answer, "Back up, what do you mean by 'pet'?"

"Pet means pet, what else can it mean?" Usopp questioned only to wish he hadn't said anything when Zoro's aura grew dark. "I-it's not like he'll do anything to him. Pet is more like an animal pet anyway. Something to have by your side for company, nothing more."

"With the way your acting, it seems like you've fallen for the boy," Sanji breathed out.

Zoro grew a tick, "I have not! It's just that- that stupid kid- Gah, this is so frustrating, why did the brat have to be so naïve and innocent?"

"Naïve and innocent?" the three others questioned.

"You heard him yourself stupid cook, he didn't even know what a pass was," Zoro commented before finally placing his sword back at his side.

"That is true, but I just thought that he had never gone anywhere before," Sanji pondered.

Usopp was also thinking about this new piece of information, "Yeah, there are also a lot of poor people who don't know what a pass is."

Zoro grunted, "If I had met him in the city, I wouldn't have brought it up."

Nami grew wide-eyed, "In other words-"

"He was walking around the desert in the middle of the day. I joined him then and we traveled through the night, only stopping to eat," Zoro informed the other three, only to get shocked silence as his response.

* * *

"So that's a pass," Luffy cheerfully chirped. He was sitting cross-legged across from the giant man who called himself Crocodile. Luffy had been very slow to open up to the man, but after some gentle coaxing, he was his normal happy self.

"So you don't travel often?" Crocodile questioned seeing as how all the boy's questions so far had to do with travel and other cities.

"I did travel around a lot with my older brothers and we once had to go to a city with Gramps, but besides that one time, I have never set foot into a city until today," Luffy responded again gaining the undivided attention of Crocodile.

"What do you mean by that?" Crocodile questioned but scowled when he heard his name called by one of his subordinates. "Hold onto that thought."

Luffy watched as Crocodile left and shut the door, hearing the click once again. Luffy decided to take advantage of this time and explore the room some more.

He was happy to see that he no longer had trouble standing and that the chain attached to his foot let him go around the full length of the room. Again. He realized that it wasn't very big and exploring it wasn't any fun. So he instead began to examine the chain.

Touching it with his fingers, Luffy could immediately tell that the chain wasn't just silver in color. It was also attached to the wall the furthest away from the door, not that he saw how that mattered. He pushed around it gently to see that it was crafted to leave no marks wherever it was attached to the person. All of this again brought Luffy to the conclusion that Crocodile was a wealthy man.

Hearing the click again he looked over to the door expecting to see Crocodile, instead he was greeted with an angry Zoro.

Coming into the room Zoro said nothing and didn't look Luffy in the eye so Luffy in turn decided to be mad at Zoro. As the swordsman neared the boy, Luffy turned and refused to see him. Suppressing the urge to hit him, Zoro tried again to go to the front of the boy, only to have Luffy again turn away. Gritting his teeth, Zoro instead found the chain and pulled it. Much to his surprise, Luffy yipped and fell on his back.

"That hurt," the boy complained.

"Shut it, do you want that man to come back?" Zoro whispered crossly.

Luffy then looked at Zoro confused. The he said 'that man' implied that someone mean and dangerous might come back, but Luffy hadn't seen any man like that, only Crocodile. Realization lit his eyes, "You don't mean Croco?"

At this, Zoro stopped what he was doing, "'Croco'?"

"Yeah that big scary looking man," Luffy answered, "at first I was afraid of him but then we started talking, and unlike you, he answered my questions."

The tick back, "What's that supposed mean?" Zoro went back to work on the chain.

"You never answered a single one of my questions," Luffy pouted. He was going to end there when a thought came into his head. "Ne Zoro, what's a kitten?"

"A baby cat," Zoro answered annoyed that Luffy seemed to like Crocodile more than him. He then scolded himself for acting like that.

"Oh," Luffy responded and became quiet. Zoro thought that Luffy was good when he asked, "What's a cat?"

Zoro mentally slapped himself for that one, how could he have not seen that one coming? "A cat is a feline, a type of animal that comes in many different shapes, sizes, and colors," he responded hoping to fully answer the kid's question.

"Like a tiger?" Luffy questioned and Zoro looked up with a startled expression. "Then not like a tiger?"

"No, you're right, a tiger is a feline but how do you know what a tiger is?" Zoro questioned remembering a similar experience as this with the kid.

"We lived with one," was all Luffy said when they heard a grunt from the doorway. Looking up, Luffy smiled happily and Zoro looked horrified as Nami and Usopp came into view behind the man they were supposed to be distracting, faces impassive.


	10. Chapter 9

**This is more of a filler chapter. It explains a few things and shows what Garp feels, I think. I'll just let you be the judge of what everything that happens in this chapter means. I'm not sure if I actually got my idea through in this chapter but I still hope that you enjoy it.**

* * *

Garp found Smoker on the top of a large building, looking angry at the world. If Garp had to guess, his recruited search party had escaped. Sighing, he sat down and pulled out the paper with the picture of his grandson on it. It wasn't much but it was something that kept him going. Ace and Sabo were on the paper as well. All three of them, well almost all three of them, had impossibly large grins. He had it taken when he called for his three grandsons to come to Marineford when there was supposed to be a bad swarm of creatures for that month.

Luffy didn't want to go, afraid that his friends were going to be eaten, Ace just didn't want to go anywhere with Garp, and Sabo didn't want to push his brothers into doing something that they didn't want to do even if it was safer to do it. In the end, Garp basically kidnapped the three and dealt with a month of two of them hating him and the third scolding him for taking them without permission. It was not a fun month.

But Garp now had this picture of the three of them. Grinning sadly, a few memories of Ace and Luffy as babies crossed through his mind. Then the inevitable meeting between Ace and Luffy. Finally, when he came back to train his dear grandchildren only to find that Ace and Luffy had another brat with them. His first meeting with Sabo was also his last meeting with the three where they were in the safety of a home.

Garp flinched inwardly when he remembered coming upon the house in shambles and not a soul in sight. It was obviously a creature's work, but since there were no signs of a fight or a struggle, Garp could only guess that the residence were safe.

He didn't see the kids again until two years after finding the house destroyed. They were alone, sort of, but fully capable of taking care of themselves. Garp had a talk with them, probably the most humane talk he ever had and will have with them. He decided to leave them to their devices and trust their judgment. Thinking back on how much trouble the three had both caused and gotten into back at the Marine base, it had been a good decision.

Sengoku didn't agree and tried to convince Garp to bring the three there so that they could be watched after and raised to be Marines, especially Luffy, but Garp had declined. He might have wanted to turn them into Marines, but he didn't want them to have a sheltered life or to have Luffy find out what he was capable of. He was already showing signs that his gift was going to be stronger than his mother's. No, Garp didn't want Luffy or the other two to be kept locked up in some room when there was the whole world to explore.

The only reason he had changed his mind was because Ace and Sabo had died. Though Garp knew that Luffy would be able to take care of himself, he didn't want his last grandchild to be alone. After all, even if he didn't show it properly, he loved the three brats more than anything in the world. It was heart breaking to see Luffy broken in a place that no one could heal.

Then he had to go and pull a stupid stunt and come to Loguetown. Why he had come to Loguetown was beyond Garp, but he had a fearful suspicion about the reason and didn't want to be right. If he was right, just letting him roam around the base would be difficult if not impossible.

Yes, Garp very much-loved his grandchild, but sometimes, he could be more of a handful than his fully grown criminal father. Garp growled at himself. He was not a fan of thinking of his son. Sure he loved the idiot, but it was too much of a headache to actually think about the idiot. Sure, he was one of the smartest people Garp knew, but the path he decided to go down was what made him the dumbest person alive.

Sighing, Garp stood. He wasn't going to get anywhere just sitting down and moping. He had a grandson to find and he wasn't going to let something as trivial as two people who would rather incur the wrath of a Marine then find one lousy kid stop him from finding said kid. He wouldn't let Luffy be alone, and he most definitely wasn't going to let the kid go off on a fool's errand to die. Leave it to the son of two eccentric people to end up running into some crazy old man that can't keep his mouth shut to save his life.

The kid was after something really dangerous. Stronger men have died just for whispering its name. Luffy might have the ability to charm people onto his side without meaning to, but that was an ability he inherited from his mother. He also inherited her small stature and never aging face. The only thing he got from his father was his never-ending will, though Garp may have contributed to that, and his intelligence.

Now, to the common eye he may seem like a complete idiot, but he is smarter than he acts. Though it isn't common sense smart or everyday knowledge smart, the latter was mainly due to living out in the desert, but he was able to take one look at a situation and see the bigger picture and the over-all need to accomplish his goal.

Yes, some people might call it stupid, but Luffy also sees what he himself must do in order to accomplish his task. Garp had witnessed that ability himself once. It was when he was going to collect the three brothers and take them to Marineford when he saw them struggling against some sort of eight-legged creature. It wasn't going well and Garp was about to jump into the fray when Luffy did this weird thing with his arm and made it grow. That was also the first time Garp had realized that Luffy had eaten one of the Devil Fruits. Garp wasn't sure why he was surprised that Luffy had eaten a Devil Fruit though he wasn't sure why it was such a shock, but not as shocked as Luffy was when his little trick actually worked. No matter the shock, Luffy had given Ace and Sabo the chance they needed to kill the thing. Not perfect but still a good first try.

Yes, his bumbling grandson is smarter than people give him credit for. His blank look while he follows the green-haired swordsman that Garp had asked to help look for him isn't actually blank but full of knowledge that people who have lived in the safety of the cities will never know - "LUFFY?!" _What is that idiot swordsman doing with my grandson_?


End file.
